Kakeru Kumagai (熊谷 翔, Kumagai Kakeru, born 5 January 2002) is a Japanese badminton player from Miyagi Prefecture.[1] He graduated from Nihon University then continued his career as a professional badminton player by joining the BIPROGY badminton team.[2]
He graduated from Nihon University and officially joined the BIPROGY badminton team on April 1 2024.[4]At BIPROGY, Kumagai plays in the doubles sector coached by former Japanese men's doubles players Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa.
He started his first international tournament after officially joining BIPROGY at Kazakhstan International in the men's doubles sector partnering Hiroki Nishi. His debut together with Hiroki Nishi managed to beat the world number 47 pair Ondřej Král / Adam Mendrek in the semifinals in two straight games. However, they lost in the final to the world number 42 pair from France Lucas Corvée / Ronan Labar and finished as runner-up.
In June 2024, Kumagai took part in the team tournament of the 74th All Japan Business Corporation Championships as a member of the BIPROGY men's team. In the semifinal against NTT East, Kumagai played as the second men's doubles partner with one of the world's top players Yuta Watanabe. The Kumagai / Watanabe pair defeated Japan national team men's doubles representatives Kazuki Shibata / Naoki Yamada in two straight games. In the final round, the Kumagai / Watanabe pair also defeated the 2021 world champion men's doubles and Olympic Paris representativesTakuro Hoki / Yugo Kobayashi in two straight games (21–8, 21–18). The BRIPOGY men's team managed to win the tournament, beating the TONAMI Transportation team 3–0 in the final.[5] The pair Kakeru Kumagai / Yuta Watanabe were awarded the Most Valuable Players (MVP).
Achievements
BWF World Tour (1 runner-up)
The BWF World Tour, which was introduced on 19 March 2017 and was held in 2018,[6] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tours are divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.[7]
^Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
